Cheap and (somewhat) healthy kids snacks?

[HalfAwakeInAFakeEmpire]

My kids are 8, 5 and 2 and our food shop costs are just ridiculously high. A big spend is definitely snacks for the kids as they are constantly hungry! I already started replacing some snacks with the Aldi versions as they can’t tell the difference but would love some ideas on how to cut costs further and ideally give them healthier stuff too. Unfortunately I work long hours and don’t really have time to batch cook (nor do I have the freezer space for it) so ideally it needs to be something I can buy and serve with minimal prep. They’re of course also fussy, so any suggestions welcome!

For snacks
I make up sugar free jellies
microwave popcorn
pancakes made of bananas (cheap ones going soft!)
yogurts
toast with various toppings
dippy eggs & soldiers
pancakes
whatever fruit is on offer at the supermarket they usually have certain offers that week
make a
big tub of humus
I also make Spanish omelette and have that sliced in the fridge
then there is the obligatory crisps and biscuits and tinned hotdog thrown in for good measure!!

Apples and carrots are cheap and involve zero prep. If you need to get fancy, toast.

My grandson loves raw carrot

Sweetcorn
Carrot sticks
Eggs
Sprout dippers microwave from frozen - squash into patties - rub some oil on them and sprinkle with seasoning- oven bake 20 mins until crispy - delicious with hummus
Toast
Nuts

Are you buying individually portioned things? Big packs of crackers, nuts, dried fruit, etc. are usually cheaper per serving. Big tub of yoghurt, not little pots.

If they like it, peanut butter is a cheap source of protein to make snacks more filling. Mine like it on apples, on crackers, in wrap 'pinwheels'. I have a lot more luck with wrap+filling when they need a substantial snack than I do sandwiches, even if it's the exact same filling.

Some snacks we eat (a lot of which are good prices at Aldi):
Peanut butter on toast
Cereal and milk (we use soymilk)
Beans on toast
Oven chips
Satsumas, bananas, apples
Hummus and breadsticks
Pretzels
Cheese sandwich or bagel (cold or grilled)
Rice crackers
Rice cakes
Olives
Gherkins
Lentil chips
Nuts - cashews, walnuts, almonds
Noodles
Pasta with pesto
Dried fruit - apricots, dates, cranberries
Homemade no-bake granola bars/squares
Three-bean salad
Leftover stew such as dahl, curry, chili or lentil soup with bread or rice

I do my 6 year old a mixed snack plate of carrot, bread sticks, cucumber, black olives, some sort of fruit, cashews and pine nuts. If he fusses about the contents I tell him to eat what he wants and leave the rest, but invariably he munches his way through the lot once he gets going.

I also work full time long hours, but find that I can make a batch of healthy muffins like apple, banana and carrot ones super quickly. Ten minutes to get them in the oven. With three kids a batch would do you four days. Or I have a super quick cookie recipe which is mostly oats, banana and nut butter, and takes minutes to get in the oven.

Greek yogurt with fruit is a good option.

If feeling lazy I offer nut butter on toast.

I wish I was a kid now, the range of snacks is awesome 😂. I don't remember having snacks, everything ruined appetites allegedly, even "the treat you can eat" was frowned upon.

When I was totally skint I used to make DS Scottish pancakes with butter or jam (aka drop scones). Cost next to nothing to make and had the bonus of lasting until the next day, eaten cold or popped in the microwave.

Quesadillas - tortilla wraps filled with whatever bits you have plus grated cheese and toasted in a pan. You can add BBQ sauce, pizza sauce, pesto…
good for using up bits of chicken, ham etc

peanut butter or cream cheese and jam on rice cakes
egg mayo on rice cakes works too
apple and cheese
big tubs of yoghurt, stir in jam, lemon curd, frozen berries etc

i do a using it up pasta bake at the end of the week/month. Whatever veg, meat you have left, bits of cheese etc plus tinned tomatoes/passata

Mine used to have breadsticks, cubes of cheese and some apple slices or grapes, mini cheddars with a spoonful of cream cheese to dip into, marmite toast soldiers and would eat bagels like eating a donut just dry🤷 or often dry cereal like cheerios with a drink of milk separately or yoghurt.

I know I'm going to sound like ' that poster ' but at that age do they really need lots of snacks? Some peanut butter on toast and a cut up banana is pretty quick.

Hard boiled eggs

Bananas

Homemade muffins/ loaf cakes

I make a lot of homemade apple sauce too which the kids love

I used to cook a chicken breast and cut into strips and the protein fills them up.
They also had cucumber sticks and carrot sticks to dip in hummus.
A soft boiled egg and toast soldiers.
An apple cut up into slices with a slice of cheese.
A banana
The odd bread stick and cream cheese.
A couple of cold sausages.
A yoghurt
I didn't buy junk snacks like crisps with no nutritional value.

I bought some reusable pouches, and fill them with cheap yoghurt as the kids get excited by this (even if it is the same yoghurt that they would otherwise have been given). They also enjoy eating frozen yoghurt (same cheap yoghurt tub shoved into the freezer).

Mine like fruit, so satsumas and apple and grapes most weeks, but they love a melon as a treat.

I do a little home baking, flapjacks or basic biscuits. These are quick to make and fairly cheap.

We avoid the expensive prepackaged snack things, but I will cut cheese into cubes and serve with grapes and ritz crackers as a fake snack box. Occasionally I will buy some cocktail sausages as they adore those.

If I am cooking they often get some of the raw veg (pepper sticks, raw carrot) to munch on.

Thanks everyone lots of great ideas here!

Look at the fruit and veg on offer every week. Toast or bread and spread are cheap, eat to prep and filling. Nuts are full of calories and nutritious for older ones, look in places like Lidl, they're much cheaper. Large containers of yogurt are often cheaper than individual portions.

Get a huge tub of peanut butter. Freeze bread. Cheese on crackers with baby tomatoes was a favourite nighttime snack as a teen.

If it’s cheaper buy sharing bags of eg crisps and section out.

Agree with the home baking, they can do this too. My DB as a teen used to make his own pizzas. Mini ones.

In what world are these things snacks? Quesadillas and pasta bakes are meals!

Home made hummus is cheap - tin of chickpeas, a little peanut butter if you don't have tahini, olive oil and garlic. Whizz in a blender and give them a dollop with carrot celery and bread sticks.

Snack pots of chopped salad veg and olives and cubes of cheese

mini frittatas - beaten eggs with whatever they'll eat - mine liked a bit of bacon sweetcorn and spring onion, bake in a muffin tin - they freeze well too.

Mine love a tin of rice pudding with a dollop of jam. Also toast and cheese spread or peanut butter. Cut up cheese and pickled onions go down well too. Rice cakes with hummus and veg sticks.

You can make the rice pudding too.

Cereals with things like mixed fruit and golden syrup I ate as a teen.

Pitta bread, baguettes, whatever you want to give them. Cheese can be expensive but I saw cathedral city on offer in Iceland recently, buy and freeze. Spreads with jam, marmite. My nephew loves hot cross buns, fruit, anything really. He gets given sandwiches once a chicken one at after school club.

One quesadilla shared between 3 children = snack

the pasta bake was an idea for using up bits which stretches food and money

We do a lot of apples, carrots, pears, peppers, bananas (the cheapest and no prep).

I also prep dates with either almonds or dark chocolate stuffed inside them - these are not that cheap but quite filling so 1 stuffed date as a snack works.

Frozen raspberries are great - let them thaw for about 10 minutes in a bowl then add yoghurt. Much cheaper than fresh berries.

Olive oil based breadsticks - the M&S ones are great and cheap.

Boiled eggs - one of my kids doesn't love this but will eat it... it's cheap and very filling.

Raisins, prunes and apricots are a hit with my kids too. I also buy large bags of almonds and pumpkin seeds which go down well.

Make flapjacks, pancakes, banana cake with nuts (if ok), dark chocolate
Bananas, grapes, apples
Chopped veg and homemade homous
Ricecakes - all different flavours
Toasties
Big bags of rasins, seeds, nuts, nuts covered in chocolate are available from Holland and barrat - they often have good sales - buy one get one free etc
cheese chunks
peanut butter on apple/ ricecake etc
quesadillas
beans on toast

Crackers and cheese
beans on toast
toasted ham and cheese sandwiches
fruit
yoghurts
boiled eggs
a sausage sandwich
popcorn
crisps

when on the go
croissants/ brioche (from bags from Lidl/ Aldi)
cereal bars